The North Hempstead Town Board has dedicated the month of May to two local cultural heritages: Haitians and Jewish Americans.
Both dedications on Tuesday, May 6, were met with thanks from both communities present at the board meeting.
“Councilman [Robert] Troiano, always, thank you so much for recognizing that we’re not just immigrants, but that we are the fabric of the places where we live,” said Mimi Pierre Johnson, a Haitian American.
“Most importantly, I would like to say thank you, thank you,” Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center Executive Director Bali Lerner said. “We can’t do this alone.”
The dedication of Haitian Heritage Month was commemorated with a singing of the Haitian National Anthem.
Pierre Johnson, a Haitian American and state director of the Haitian Diaspora Political Action Committee, said she was overwhelmed by the dedication, citing current issues in Haiti.
“To be able to celebrate a flag of a country that the flag should be upside down, to get this from you all, I can’t tell you how that feels,” Pierre Johnson said.
Members of the Haitian community reflected on the dedication the town has shown to them, starting with being the first to celebrate Haitian Flag Day.
Troiano said North Hempstead was the first municipality to declare May Haitian Heritage Month on Long Island.
Former town Council Member Viviana Russell said the Haitian flag ceremony was created after members of the Westbury and Carle Place community reached out to her about commemorating their legacy and contributions. She said oftentimes their achievements go unrecognized.
“It was a very honorable thing to come into my community because we have one of the largest Haitian populations on Long Island that live in the New Cassel community,” Russell said. “It was a great honor to work alongside and partner with them to create this day of celebration and commemoration.”
The Town of North Hempstead has been celebrating a Haitian flag ceremony for the past 10 years. Troiano said the ceremony will be commemorated with an outside celebration on Prospect Avenue in New Cassel on May 18.
“I hope it’s something that spreads wide and goes into other communities,” Russell said.
Lerner expressed her gratitude for the town’s acknowledgement of Jewish American Heritage Month.
She said that when she came to speak to the town board, she sought out a list of Jewish contributions and accomplishments to share. But she scratched that idea after a friend reminded her of the strength that lies in the everyday actions of all Jews.
Lerner said a friend had congratulated her on her daughter’s graduation, highlighting how far she had come since an incident she had experienced on campus two weeks after the Oct. 7 attacks.
Lerner said her daughter was on her university campus where a pro-Palestinian protest was being held. She said she was concerned for her daughter and asked her to stay away from the protest.
But about an hour later, Lerner said she received a picture of her daughter holding an Israeli and American flag among the crowd of pro-Palestinian protestors.
“She said, ‘That day was so dark when we really needed light. We needed to try and come together and celebrate the good things in people and what was happening at that rally was the exact opposite,’” Lerner said.
Lerner said her daughter was angry, saying there was so much grief and struggle that she, too, could have shared about her family’s struggles. But she said she wouldn’t out of rejection, pity, and commitment to their community’s resiliency.
She reflected on all the lessons she sought to impart on her daughter from their Jewish faith, including building bridges, reaching out through good deeds and seeking to repair the world.
